News From the Nest -- Crazed

I have to laugh at myself, because yet again, I have to start a post with, "I've been really, really busy!" Unimaginative, but true. (I wonder how many posts I've done have started with that phrase?)

Our cousin from Chicago moved in with us a few weeks ago, bringing her dog along with her. Introducing the dogs wasn't as chaotic as I'd feared it would be; Sam has fear-aggression with other dogs and it could have gotten pretty hairy. Fortunately, I've been working with a trainer on the issue, and things went really well! Whew! They seem to be settling in well with each other, as you can tell from this video of Coda and Stevie playing together.

I guess this is fun....
Posted by Cassandra Denise on Sunday, April 19, 2015

Meanwhile, at the job, we moved the office on Friday. Talk about exhausted! The commute will be longer, unfortunately, but it's a nicer office and I get a window and lots of bright, natural light. I love that!

There are a couple of other things in the works, but I can't share until July, which is just killing me!

But the good news I can share is that I ran a bisque firing last night with some of the new baby dishes and Hallowe'en things. I'm pretty stressed about losing thirty-five hours a week in the studio and still having to make a profit this year if I'm going to continue to run this as a business. I'm not sure how to make up the time other than not sleeping!

First world problems, I guess. :)

News From the Nest

Lots of little changes going on around here, aside from the Hauntcast Resurrection thing that's going on.


First, Sam is nearly a year old. His birthday, funny enough, is in April; the same day as Revenant's. He's gone from this:

Sam at one week old

Sam at eight weeks

to this 80+ pound puppy:

Sam is now very interested in bathtubs, as long as he doesn't need a bath.

Wow, did he grow fast, and he still has another six months or so of growth to go. The funny thing is, he's small for a male (like his dad), but is now taller than our female. Smart and handsome, too. I just can't believe that at this time last year, we were crossing our fingers that we'd have the pup of our dreams!


I've finally kicked the virus from Hell enough to get back to the gym. (The cough is lingering, but is now only visiting first thing in the morning and last thing in the evening.) Pensive Pumpkin has inspired me to get moving again, and of course, the puppy needs to get out, too. As I regain my wind and muscle tone, we'll be doing longer walks/runs. That's the plan, anyway. Summer is coming, after all, and I'm vain enough to care what I look like in a bathing suit!


At the gym yesterday, I noticed one lady on the treadmill as I was coming up the stairs and turning the corner. She was pumping her arms really hard as she was walking, had big hair and weighed maybe 100 pounds, at most. She may have been about 5' 5", give or take. I had to choke back a giggle, because the image that struck me was that of an angry lollipop. Tiny little body, biiiiig head. I wanted to whisper, "For God's sake, lady, eat something!" as I went by, but I managed to refrain.


That, by the way, will never be me. I'd have to cut my calorie intake to 500 per day, and that is simply not going to happen, because it's insanity!


My kiln is full and firing right now, and I've been getting a few things finished up from last year's Hallowe'en season, like these mini jacks:

I also made the first two jacks of the year:

So I'd have to say, I'm feeling reasonably productive! Here's to a bunch more, right?

News From the Nest

As with all of you at this time of year, the Nest is in a bit of disarray as the Hallowe'en stuff prepares to make its yearly appearance, school is in (which means learning and teaching for me), my booth opens, and any manner of chaos that can come a-visitin', will!


The open house I had a week ago Sunday went very well, especially considering I don't yet have a mailing list. (Note to self: build mailing list!)


As you can see from the pictures, the house looked like a Hallowe'en tornado had blown through and deposited Hallowe'en-y things everywhere. These pics were taken at about 1:00a.m., as I was finishing up entering my stock into my inventory sheet.


Of course, I don't have an "after" shot, where everything was beautifully displayed. I was just too busy to snap any pics the next morning! A final vacuum was done to pick up the German Shepherd dust rhinoceri that were galloping madly around the house, kitchen clean-up and hors d'oeuvres made and set out, bathroom cleaned, and all the last-second minutiae taken care of, with some help from Mr. ShellHawk. (He made a wonderful plate of caprese salad that was beautiful and as yummy as only home-grown tomatoes can be!)


The neighbors I invited who hadn't seen me making things in my garage were, I think, pretty surprised at not only the volume of work I had on display, but I think at the quality, too. I think some of them were expecting to have to make polite noises at some fairly cruddy and amateurish pottery, but instead, there were some honestly impressed looks on some of their faces. 
One friend didn't buy any of the Hallowe'en ware, but did purchase five of my Raku pieces, and five of my favorites, at that. 
Someone else bought several of the pre-matted photos I started offering this year, so I have hopes that they'll be a popular item at my booth on Apple Hill this season. All in all, we had a great time!


In other news, Jack Skelington was shipped off to his new home.

My friend Dean's three-year-old absolutely loves Jack Skelington, so when Dean asked me to make one for her, I was delighted to do so.
From Dean's email:

My daughter Olivia (3 yrs old) was so excited when she saw the box with a Jack Skellington face on the front.

I'm attaching 2 photos and a video when she opened it up. She carried it around the rest of the night and I had to put it on her nightstand

when she went to bed. She wanted a candle in it but I couldn't find one. She told me to get one today at Walmart for her.

Thank you so much! I'm going to put a flicker LED candle for it and display it in the window the entire month of October.

 Can I express how great it is to be a part of her Hallowe'en tradition? How cool is that?


Makes the late nights worth it, that's for sure!


Oh, and? I was listed on "Etsy Finds" the other day. Woo-hoo! (Look in the section that says "plan menu.")


Great things come with Hallowe'en!

News From the Nest

To say that last week was a mixed bag of roses and absolute crap (and when I say crap, I mean steer manure!) is to make a pretty hefty understatement.

I started back to teaching last week, with a 9:00AM Raku class. It's the first time I've gotten anything resembling a lecture together, and I think it went fairly well. The students seem enthused, and I knew several of them from the senior class I taught over the summer. I really love the Raku process, so teaching this class is a thrill for me. I wish I had more videos about the process as it is done in Japan, but maybe next time. I left at noon, came back at 4:30 for the open studio, and left at 9:00PM, after the beginning ceramics class I was teaching was over.

School came and went, with some nice progress on my entry for the Davis Graveyard Spiderfest. I got the two pieces of the body attached; now all I have to do is figure out how to get the legs to stay in place and in the right position while they dry, and sacrifice a chicken to the kiln god so they aren't broken.

Wednesday, I dutifully headed out to Sacramento to file for my fictitious business license. I popped by my other college to talk with my old clay instructor (who isn't at all old, btw). I headed home after, already planning my afternoon in my studio to get caught up on projects for my upcoming stint at the brewery.

When I got there, my dog was limping badly.

He was fine when I left that morning, of course, so I was surprised to find him that way. For a split second, I thought it was a temporary injury, as he and his girlfriend play rough all the time. Because they're getting a little older, sometimes one or the other overdoes their Superdog impression and gets a little achy for a day or so. No big deal.

This time, no such luck.

I took a closer look a the leg and my heart sank. Though I knew it wasn't broken, I also knew he had a serious injury. I called the vet and made an appointment for that afternoon.

After waiting a bit (turns out four spaniels had been brought in that had been in a bad car accident with their owner, who had been flown to the hospital) the doctor-not our usual one-came in and did the exam. I told her I thought he'd torn the ligament in his knee. She thought so, too, but took him back for x-rays. We were right; he'd torn the cruciate ligament (like the human ACL).

She let me know the surgery would be $4000.00, and implied that there was no other choice. After she told me there would be a four-month recovery period, with the first three weeks in a kennel, drugged to the gills, my brain shut down. Oh, except for the part where she said he had a 60% chance of blowing out his other knee within a year.

The dog is nine years old. Why on earth would I put him through all that?

Mr. ShellHawk and I spent the next few days worrying we would be forced to put the dog down. I skipped school on Thursday, and spent Friday gathering my things to take up to Apple Hill on Saturday and wincing every time my dog tried to get up and walk. I truly hate seeing him in pain and not racing around like the lovable maniac he is.

Mr. ShellHawk came with me to set up my booth on Saturday morning, after having tranquilized the dog so he wouldn't be up and further injuring himself while we were gone. When he got home, he did some online research and discovered that not all vets agree that the surgery is effective, not doing the surgery and letting it heal on its own (with heavy restrictions on the dog's activity, of course) did not make you an evil bastard. Mr. ShellHawk called me with the news, and let me tell you, it was welcome news.

The down side is that because Mr. ShellHawk is the breadwinner and can't suddenly work from home all the time, I have to quit school for now to take care of El Doggo (not his real name). Though it makes me sound bad and selfish, I really am disappointed it has to go this way. I have a number of projects at school that depended on a certain type of firing process that I can't do here at home, and through the school, an opportunity to get into a juried show at the Crocker Art Museum. Granted, there was no guarantee my piece or pieces would have been picked for the show, but I was really working towards it and was hopeful to be chosen. Not only would it have looked great on a resume, but it would have made it easier to bear the whispers of the spoiled housewives who say that my pots are too expensive and they can get the same thing at Wal-Mart for much less.

I could have been a contendah!

Yes, I realize there will be other opportunities, and that everything happens for a reason, blah, blah, blah. It still sucks and I decree that I am allowed to be upset about it.

I suppose the up side is that I may have time to get a couple of tombstones done. "My Education" could be engraved on one of them, for sure!

*heavy sigh*

News From the Nest

I've been looking through some older pics and found this one.  It seems forever since I made this, my first hand-built pumpkin, but I realize it was only a year ago. From that, to my more recent additions to the pumpkin kingdom:

Not that I'm all that and a bag of chips, mind you, but I am sort of surprised to have made such improvement, especially since I know how far I have to go before I can even think about mastery.

In any case, the Nest has been a flurry of activity in preparation for the National Haunter's Convention. The pumpkins and other stuff for the booth have been shipped off to the Convention site, so I don't have to risk the airlines breaking or losing them for me. I finally got my brochures finished to my satisfaction, and they should arrive Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest from UPrinting. I also ordered a memory book of my pumpkins for the display table, as I will only have a few pumpkins there at the booth. Today will be my day to design an order form, which after the learning curve I had with the brochures should take me about eight seconds, tops.

I also managed to finish my segment for Haunt Cast yesterday, so there's one more thing I can check off my list. Next on my list: blog about my special guests who came for a visit last weekend...

News From the Nest

It's been a plague-filled week here at the Nest, which is why my posting has been spotty. I came down with a nasty cold last week, and am still suffering from it and those unattractive side-effects that come with being sick. Sweet Mr. ShellHawk took mercy on me and brought home two bottles of cold meds and a box of lotion-soaked tissues for my poor nose. I want to note here and now: red and green should only be for Christmas, and for Halloween lighting, not-other things that are sort of gross and come out of... Well. Never mind.

I'm starting to get on top of it though, just in time for the next minor challenge. For his 40th birthday-in addition to all the top-shelf booze and dissectable owl barf-Mr. ShellHawk got a surgical consultation and goes in for surgery this week. It's nothing life-threatening, thankfully, and is quite a "routine" surgery, but, well, surgery is still not on anyone's top ten list of Fun Things To Do. I'll be home with him, playing nursie (not in the "fun, roll-playing costume" kind of way), and won't be posting until next week sometime. I'll still be checking for comments, however, so you can still enter the UPrinting giveaway or tell me how very, very cool you think I am.

Just kidding. Sheesh!